The following is an article written
for American Football Monthly—a magazine published containing
instructional material for coaches.
What do mean you guys don’t bench? Not at all?
Do things right; Do the right things; the Key to Optimizing Weight Training
Performance
By Jim Parry, head football coach, Mathews High School, Vienna, Ohio
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the
majority, it is time to pause and reflect"—Mark Twain
I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve
had to answer the title of this article in the past four years—from
all factions: fans, players, parents and even other coaches.
As you well know, in our profession anytime we go against the norm there
is some inherent risk. There is safety in conformity. “If the
league champ is running the spread, then we will too. So and so runs
the 3-5, we do too.” That way, criticism is deflected to other
areas. I have to admit that I’m guilty of it too. After our 1-9
first season where we ran the unconventional single wing, we quickly
moved to the popular spread offense ourselves.
Sometimes when faced with a problem; however, you have
to take a risk. You have to turn to someone who knows more than you—even
if convention would say otherwise. Remember, a well-beaten path does
not always make the right road.
During my interview process before being named head coach
at Mathews High School (a division 6 high school in Northeast Ohio),
I was introduced to our high school principal Lou DeMarco. He was brutally
honest when he exclaimed that the past problems of the football program
were, in his opinion, mainly physical.
DeMarco should know. In addition to being a high school
educator and administrator for the past 42 years, he has been heavily
involved with USA weightlifting since his teenage years. He has trained
dozens of athletes—some who have gone on to major colleges to
participate in athletics, others who have become Olympians. DeMarco,
himself, was a national class athlete who was by and large “self
taught.” He was inspired by his boyhood idol, now good friend,
Olympic gold medalist and eight-time world champion Tommy Kono. In fact,
last year, Kono spoke to our entire student body before his visit to
the Arnold Classic in Columbus.
United States Weightlifting Staff Assignments
for Lou DeMarco
Head Coach/Manager 2001 World University Games Ruzomberok, Slovakia
Competition Staff 1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, Ga.
Head Coach/Manager 1995 Modling Cup Modling Austria
Head Coach/Manager 1995 U.S. Olympic Festival Boulder, Co.
Head Coach/Manager 1994 Silver Dragon Cardiff, Wales
Head Coach 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival St. Louis, Mo.
Board of Directors 1994 to1996 USA Weightlifting
Head Coach 1991 U.S. Olympic Festival Los Angeles, Ca.
Head Coach/Manager 1991 Nissan Open Montreal Canada
Manager 1990 U.S. Olympic Festival St. Paul, Minn.
Head Coach/Manager 1990 Pan American/Manuel SuarezInvitational Pinar
Del Rio, Cuba
Manager 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival Oklahoma City, Ok.
Head Coach 1986 Montreal Cup Montreal, Canada
Competition Staff 1985 U.S. Olympic Festival Baton Rouge, La.
Competition Staff 1984 Olympic Games Los Angeles, Ca.
Head Coach/Manager 1984 Junior World Team Lignano, Italy
Assistant Coach 1983 Senior World Team Moscow, Russia
Head Coach 1983 U.S. Olympic Festival Colorado Springs, Co.
Head Coach 1982 Junior World Team Sao Paolo, Brazil
Head Coach 1982 U.S. Olympic Festival Indianapolis, In.
Head Coach 1981 U.S. Olympic Festival Syracuse, New York
Charter Member State of Ohio Hall of Fame for Weightlifting—1996
National Hall of Fame for Weightlifting—1999
It didn’t take our coaching staff long to figure out that Mr.
DeMarco was right. It became apparent to us, if not the casual observer
who blamed our troubles on the single wing offense, that we were indeed
out muscled most of the time.
After a particularly embarrassing loss where we gave up
50 points before halftime, I went to DeMarco for help. That night he
told me to meet him in his office on Monday and we would work out a
plan.
It was in that meeting that I realized how uneducated
I really was when it came to strength training. It was previously my
plan to simply do what we did when I was in school and when I was an
assistant coach at the school I graduated from. I thought all lifting
was pretty much the same. The only semi-educated opinion that I had
ever made was that free weights in general were better than machines.
I have since learned much from DeMarco and the material
he has presented to me:
1. There are three types of weight training. I’m
simplifying here: A. The body builder develops nonfunctional muscles
for any sport (the Ferrari without an engine). B. The power lifter develops
absolute strength which is a non-factor in the development in speed
(the tank—strong, but slow). C. The Olympic lifter develops speed
strength that is essential for any sport (the rocket—fast and
explosive).
2. Rest is paramount. The most common undetected mistake
in weight training is over-training. This goes back to trying to keep
up with the Jones’s. We as coaches tend to think that more is
better, but athletes will quickly plateau if they are worked too hard.
3. Weekly routines should be cycled. In other words, athletes
should not simply try to start at a specific weight and try to continually
climb with steady increases. Many programs I have seen require athletes
to just keep adding weight. The percentage of weight lifted and reps
for the routine are often stagnant, or increased steadily until a new
max is reached.
Our routine is quite different. DeMarco has designed a
program wherein our athletes plug in their personal records into our
computer program (Microsoft Excel©) and is very simple to follow
but changes percentages based on variables that should bring optimal
results. In week one of our monthly program, our athletes will typically
complete a “light” work out. Week two will many times be
our “heavy” routine and week 3 will be a medium to heavy
workout. We re-test during our 4th week, which allows our athletes full
recovery and ample rest as we only complete one of our four lifts on
a given day. We then use the new personal records to build the next
month’s program.
4. Strength training is a year round proposition. I know this is nothing
new to many of you, but it was something that we had to sell to our
team. We are lucky here at Mathews that DeMarco or myself can monitor
the weight room throughout the school day so that our athletes who play
other sports, which we strongly encourage, can still weight train. We
have designed a more flexible three-day a week schedule so that the
athlete can work around game days and other obstacles. During our football
season, since it is so tough on the body, we reduce the number of repetitions
and load the bar with high percentages and hope to maintain our overall
strength.
5. Less can definitely be more. As stated in the title,
our athletes do not bench press. I am not going to try and convince
you that the bench press has no value to the football player (although
I think it and the 40 yard dash time are the two most overrated barometers
in football), but it is not a priority to us. In creating our program,
we wanted to, #1, prioritize our lifts. In fact, we removed the benches
all together as not to detract from what we felt was important. We didn’t
want to create an atmosphere where ten guys were lying on their backs
trying to out do each other in something that we don’t feel is
a necessity. We needed to, #2, see bodies in the weight room. You may
have the most comprehensive program in the world but if you can’t
get your players to commit to it, then its useless. In focusing on four
lifts we are only asking our athletes to put in 35 minutes, four days
a week. I’ve yet to find the excuse that doesn’t allow a
kid to squeeze in a little more than a half hour for training. Our kids
don’t miss sessions because we are not beating them up. On Mondays
and Thursdays we full squat and power jerk from the rack (push workout).
On Tuesdays and Fridays we power snatch and power clean (pull workout).
Some of our experienced lifters graduate to the full squat snatch, full
clean and jerk and front squat.
I know exactly what you are thinking—it’s
not enough. Before you dismiss our philosophy, there are a few more
things to remember:
You can’t lift if you’re not there. When our
coaching staff took over 3 years ago, there were only three or four
football players who were lifting consistently on a program that took
well over an hour to complete. At present, we have in the vicinity of
sixty. Now, I’m not a math wizard, but I have to believe that
our total output is astronomically better than what it was three years
ago.
Olympic movements are complex. Although they are only
doing four specific exercises, our athletes are working on all the aspects
of functional strength for football. The power clean is, by far, the
most relevant lift for the football athlete. The amount of speed and
explosiveness required to complete the snatch is exactly what each of
us crave in all of our athletes—whether they be a linemen or a
running back. I am of the opinion that the power jerk benefits far out
way the bench press because it, too, is an explosive movement similar
to the punch off the line that we require from our blockers; whereas
the bench press is slow and steady, reduces flexibility (potentially
leading to shoulder and chest injuries) and is not ground based. It
does not teach the athlete to “push back” with his entire
body. In essence, it doesn’t simulate any movement in football.
We also teach the full squat as opposed to the parallel
squat. Once again, this is one of those controversial topics that I
ask that you look at from a different perspective. First of all, the
hamstring (our basis of speed) does not factor into the squat until
slightly below parallel, so it is important that the athlete squats
deep enough to achieve the desired result. Also, when trying to achieve
parallel, many athletes will not crouch deep enough. This will result
in the over development of the quadriceps in proportion to the hamstring
thus causing a potential knee problem. It is true that more pressure
is placed on the knee in the full squat; however there is NO WHERE NEAR
enough to cause harm to a healthy joint. The only time we would use
a parallel squat is in a rehab situation. Another benefit to squatting
deeply is that athletes cannot load the bar with so much weight as to
cause back injury.
You find your athletes early. I realized this in one of
our first lifting sessions where DeMarco pointed out an athlete that
had not played the previous year and predicted, after watching two snatch
attempts, that the lifter would be one of my best players. He was wrong.
The young man has been THE best all around player for the past two seasons
and was named our conference Defensive Player of the Year.
I have since acquired the vision to spot athletic ability
while watching our players complete their routine. We have been able
to predict, with remarkable accuracy, not only who are our better athletes,
but also the position most likely for our newcomers. I have even astonished
our junior high coaches by pulling a “DeMarco.” They were
wondering who was going to be a fit at quarterback during a lifting
session and I told them the answer was easy. It was either the 220lb
right tackle or 130lb newcomer. Of course they chose the smaller player
but were amazed to find out that the big tackle did indeed have the
best arm and footwork on the team. By the way, the bigger “lineman”
started for us (as a freshman) at left tackle this past season.
You can supplement later. Once your daily attendance increases,
it may be time to add an auxiliary exercise or two. These can be remedial
exercises that add to the program and may prevent injuries; this is
a practice of Bulgarian weightlifters. To be honest, our more motivated
athletes have done this on their own. Let’s face it, teenage boys
are concerned with the look of their bodies and will often do bicep
curls and, yes, even bench presses (against their coach’s wishes)
on their own. We have also encouraged footwork dot drills, speed ladder
drills and jump roping to our athletes (which most do) but we don’t
run them out of the gym if they don’t do them.
Take it from us. At the start of our lifting program 3
years ago, the average player was able to lift a combined total of 540lbs
in the full squat, power clean, power jerk, and power snatch. At our
latest testing, our athletes improved that average to 780lbs combined—an
increase of 45%! Keep in mind, also, that many of our stronger upperclassmen
have graduated, but our younger team members are entering much stronger
as our junior high program follows a similar workout.
Last season was a record-breaking one for our football
team. It was the first time in school history that we qualified for
the state playoffs. 2004 was also a record-breaking year. We finished
with the school’s first ever-outright conference championship.
We broke records in wins, points scored, points allowed and rushing
yards in a season. Our running back broke both the single season and
career rushing marks. Not coincidentally, he is one of the leading United
States amateur Olympic lifters (286lb clean and jerk, 231lb snatch and
352lb front squat@ 5’8”/160lbs) who has trained exclusively
under DeMarco’s eye and we hope to watch him in an Olympic arena
someday soon.
What was coincidental, and lucky for me, is that I ended
up at a school with a principal whose passion was our team’s greatest
deficiency.
If our coaching staff can be of help to you in anyway,
please don’t hesitate to contact us. E-mail: james.parry@neomin.org,
phone: (330) 394-1138
Sample Week 2(Heavy) Workout for 300lb Squat, 175lb Clean, 130lb Snatch,
205lb Jerk
Day 1 Date:
Squat 155 x3 185 x3 215 x3 245 x3 260 x3 275 x2
Press or Jerk 105 x3 125 x3 145 x3 165 x3 175 x3 185 x2
Day 2 Date:
Power Snatch 65 x3 80 x3 90 x3 105 x3 110 x2 115 x2
Power Clean 90 x3 105 x3 125 x3 140 x3 150 x2 160 x2
Day 3 Date:
Squat 155 x3 185 x3 215 x3 245 x3 260 x3 275 x2
Press or Jerk 105 x3 125 x3 145 x3 165 x3 175 x3 185 x2
Day 4 Date:
Power Snatch 65 x3 80 x3 90 x3 105 x3 110 x2 115 x2
Power Clean 90 x3 105 x3 125 x3 140 x3 150 x2 160 x2
Diagram 2:
Sample Week 3(Medium-Heavy) Workout for 300lb Squat, 175lb Clean, 130lb
Snatch, 205lb Jerk.
Day 1 Date:
Squat 155 x3 185 x3 215 x3 245 x3 260 x3x2
Press or Jerk 105 x3 125 x3 145 x3 165 x3 175 x3x2
Day 2 Date:
Power Snatch 65 x3 80 x3 90 x3 105 x3 110 x2x2
Power Clean 90 x3 105 x3 125 x3 140 x3 150 x2x2
Day 3 Date:
Squat 155 x3 185 x3 215 x3 245 x3 260 x3x2
Press or Jerk 105 x3 125 x3 145 x3 165 x3 175 x3x2
Day 4 Date:
Power Snatch 65 x3 80 x3 90 x3 105 x3 110 x2x2
Power Clean 90 x3 105 x3 125 x3 140 x3 150 x2x2
Notice week 3 is a less intense workout than in week 2,
yet it is more intense than week 1 (not shown).
TOP
